A show about mutants is nothing without its… well, mutants! So we sat down with Jamie Chung and Emma Dumont of Fox’s upcoming series The Gifted at San Diego Comic Con this year, and they were kind enough to delve into their characters and the show in general with us.
Jamie Chung is taking on the role of Blink, whose real name is Clarice Fong in the show, but who takes on the alias Clarice Ferguson much like her comic counterpart. “What’s interesting with this version of Blink is that she’s got a lot of attitude,” partially because she’s never been able to hide her mutant status due to her physical marking. While her power is to open portals, viewers will see her develop her abilities and throughout the course of the show. “It’s fun to see how her power grows and changes throughout the series.”
Emma Dumont plays Polaris, also known as Lorna Dane. Given her comic book relation to Magneto, it’s no surprise that her powers include domninion over metal. And she has no shame about her powers, either, unlike characters such as Blink. “She kind of has anger issues,” Dumont teases, so sometimes there are metal-related accidents around her. And she’s going to need those powers, because Polaris and the mutant crew will be “on the run from the first moment of the pilot ’til the end of the season.”
They also brought up the real-life parallels once more. “Straight up, you guys, our show is about bigotry,” Dumont declared. “I hope this show throws up a mirror on society.” Chung agreed, “It makes our show quite different because we are highlighting those current event issues.
But it won’t be all tension and social commentary, according to Chung. “I think there are snippets of normal moments. As serious as the show is, there is a bit of comedy.” The two girls certainly seem to have fun together, and hopefully that will translate onscreen amidst the chaos. Dumont joked, “Blink is a little bit [funnier] than Polaris is. Polaris is, like, Negatron.”
Check out the rest of the interview below and don’t forget to tune in to Fox’s premiere of The Gifted on Monday, October 2nd at 9/8c.